When Linda Buzinec walked to the Lake George clocktower from Grainger’s across the street, it was as if she were still in charge.
City dignitaries, friends and residents alike gathered there waiting for the Common Council to finish its business and get on with the main event of Wednesday evening — renaming the clocktower in her honor — and the former mayor didn’t miss a beat, working the crowd with hugs and smiles. But when it came time for her to speak, she paused for a moment.
“If you’ve never seen me at a loss for words, enjoy it,” she joked.
Several dignitaries grabbed the mic to share their stories about Buzinec, whose vision first as First District councilwoman and then as mayor guided the end of Phase one and all of Phase two of the Lake George beautification project. Hobart Clerk-Treasurer Deb Longer recalled the Halloween of 2001, when the country was still in shock and terror over 9/11.
“This lady was in office, and we were trying to decide what we were going to do for Halloween,” Longer said. “She said, ‘You know what? We’re going to have Trick-or-Treating by the lake.’ We had no idea if were going to have anyone, but turns out, we had 2,000 kids along the lakefront.
“It was the best coming-together, and Linda, that might be a small story, but it’s huge in the hearts of Hobart.”
Mayor Brian Snedecor said Buzinec has “never lost her excitement for this city” and pointed out that she is the only Hobart resident to have so far won the Sagamore of the Wabash, Indiana’s highest civilian honor. The lakefront’s current beauty, he said, is her legacy.
“The time she served, well, look behind us: She made it happen,” he said.
Buzinec did it by being “right in the thick of it,” pursuing grants and coordinating construction, Snedecor said. She also secured the land for Phase three, which extended the effort toward City Hall.
Perhaps the most instrumental thing Buzinec did for the project, said Council President Matt Claussen, D-At-Large, was turn the Park Board into the Park Commission. Without that, the city wouldn’t have been able to bond out for the project, which cost at least $2.5 million for the east side of the lake alone, according to the Preserve Indiana web site.
As for Buzinec, she said she was “overwhelmed” by the honor, which includes a plaque affixed to the clocktower proclaiming it the “Linda Buzinec Clocktower at Lake George.” She insisted she wasn’t the only person responsible for it.
“It was the community — what we had, what we knew, what we loved,” she said.
Her son, Michael Buzinec, said his mom never did anything for the recognition, but it’s still pretty sweet.
“She has two great-grandchildren now, and it’s going to be really cool for them to come past here and see and know their grandma did this,” he said.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
